There is no shame in admitting you have made a mistake. When the facts play against your favor, you have to acknowledge them, bring them to light. So that's why I'm writing this editorial to you, the American people, to urge you to come clean. Don't you think that it's time to admit that you were all a bit hasty when you called the 2012 presidential election in President Obama's favor last Tuesday?
It's time to reevaluate those pesky facts that you chose to ignore. Governor Mitt Romney held a small but persistent polling edge, leading in 19 of the 31 national surveys released just before the election. Governor Romney was performing at or above 50 percent in 10 polls, Obama in none.
Furthermore, in battleground states, the edge in early and absentee vote turnout that propelled Democrats to victory in 2008 was clearly going to be eroded, cut in half according to a Republican National Committee summary. Didn't we all agree that it was going to come down to the all-important Buckeye State? There, too, the early voting news wasn't encouraging for the president. When you looked at all the data, Governor Romney was beating President Obama, who won independents by eight points last time around. So if Governor Romney was leading among independents, even by one point—and he was leading by an average of seven—that presaged enough votes being shifted to shift the election. It seems obvious, in retrospect, to see that Mitt Romney is the new president of the United States.
Nobody enjoys admitting guilt. And nobody likes a scold, either. I'm not comfortable in my role as the messenger, the delivery boy for logic and reason. My employers at Fox News took the easy way out, and banned me from saying the words "Ohio," "polls," or "data" on their airwaves ever again. That's why I appreciate smaller, more free-thinking venues like The Stranger that allow me to get my message across to the American people.
Looking around The Stranger, however, I see several issues demanding my attention, as a poll-reading veteran. For example, trust me: DOMINIC HOLDEN's liberal-biased essay about marijuana reform is jumping the gun. Based on internal polling, I predict that marijuana was narrowly defeated last Tuesday, riding on the conservative wave that narrowly elected Governor Romney into office. Besides, Governor-elect Rob McKenna surely would not allow such a flagrant refutation of family values to become the law of the land in Washington State, he's too decent a man for that. So this is a waste of space.
And this bit by JEN GRAVES about a drawing of bare breasts on display at Cornish is just vulgar. Aren't there obscenity laws in Washington State? This is the state that, according to my data, bravely voted down gay marriage by the slenderest of margins just over a week ago today. After all, when you're looking at election results like the ones I believe we saw last Tuesday, you have to believe that the electorate is sending you some kind of a message.
